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I am having great trouble finding a forward facing car seat solution in my 325 convertible. My son is 2 years and 2 months and about 30 pounds.

I have tried several seats, but the shape of the bucket seat in the back makes it very hard (impossible?) to fit a car seat. All the car seats I have tried so far are are too tall and sit against the headrest (as the headrest is part of the roll-over pretection system, it cannot be removed). As a result there is a large gap between the car seat and back rest in the car. There does not appear to be a way to get these seats properly installed.

Does anybody know of a particular brand/type car seat that is sold in Canada that fits in the back of a convertible 3-series? All tips or suggestions are greatly appreciated!

I am having great trouble finding a forward facing car seat solution in my 325 convertible. My son is 2 years and 2 months and about 30 pounds.

I have tried several seats, but the shape of the bucket seat in the back makes it very hard (impossible?) to fit a car seat. All the car seats I have tried so far are are too tall and sit against the headrest (as the headrest is part of the roll-over pretection system, it cannot be removed). As a result there is a large gap between the car seat and back rest in the car. There does not appear to be a way to get these seats properly installed.

Does anybody know of a particular brand/type car seat that is sold in Canada that fits in the back of a convertible 3-series? All tips or suggestions are greatly appreciated!

Did you manage to get the Radian in a convertible or in the coupe/sedan? We have a Radian car seat for our other car and I cannot get it to fit in the short back rest of the back seat of the 3 series convertible. If you managed to do this in the convertible, I would love to see a picture.

It is by no means an easy task. BMW says that you will damage them if you take them out because of the way they are designed. The metal rods that come out of the headrest (that go into the body) have a sharp groove on them to prevent it from being taken out.

Kind of like this
| | | |
] [ ] [ - groove
| | | |

you will have to pry while holding the button down that is by the base of the headrest. It helps to have a friend pushing the buttons while you pull (with the top down for more leverage of course).

It feels really awkward and strange how much force would be needed but they do come off. Do not pull on the rear flap part, I used the sides with my fingers under the bottom parts.

I know it can be done because I replaced the plastic vents that cover the roll over protection because it was broken when I bought the car. To get them back on just requires tapping them down past the groove and clip system in there.

Thanks to all for the responses and suggestions! I had almost given up and to my own surprise I have found the perfect car seat. I guess I won't have to trade the child, eh, car.

After trying 10+ seats, the Graco Nautilus appears to be made for the back seat of the 3 series convertible. The combination of the shorter back rest (with the headrest of the child car seat coming forward just two inches) and the angle between the base of seat and the back rest are a perfect fit. Most seats are too tall and too reclined and therefore you cannot get the seat under the headrest and into the bucket seat of the convertible.

I have included a pictures of the installation. Couple of hints:
- When installing on the passenger side, it easier to clip in the UAS on the door side first, with the seat just moved to the middle
- The UAS loop on the other side can be accessed easily if the ski pass-through part is removed.
- When tightening the UAS base belt put your own full weight on the car seat and keep working the strap. Even when it seems you are making little progress, the fit will get tighter and tighter.
- I was concerned the top tether would be difficult to tighten, but it was not an issue to loop the strap under the head restraint and tighten it that way.
- The car seat has a reclined mode, you don't want to use this for the BMW.
- Adjust the straps for the child before mounting the car seat, it can only be done when the car seat is out.
- I think it is impossible to install the seat with the top closed. Top open and windows down make life a lot easier.